A human body is composed of water, protein, bone and fat, in addition to small amounts of special components. The total of these elements constitutes the body weight. Quantitatively measuring the respective elements is called body composition analysis. Recent years body composition analyzers have been actively developed due to interest in health care from fatness. The proportion occupied by the fat is called fatness and is used in diagnosing various adult diseases. In the medical terms, of the body composition, fat free mass (FFM) is the main component for supporting the human body. Patients suffering from malnutrition related, for example to cancer are subject to a periodic FFM measurement to determine a remission state or monitor progress of the disease. In the case where a fatty man performs athletic exercises to reduce the body weight, it frequently happens that the body weight shows almost no variation within a relatively short period of several months. In this case, if the body composition is measured, it will be found that the amount of muscle has increased, although the amount of fat has decreased. In this way, the effect of the athletic exercise can be measured in a rational manner. Further, based on the analysis of the body composition, the growth of children and the nutritional status of elderly men can be diagnosed. Particularly, for various patients, the segmental water distribution can be measured to determine patient's hydration status.
As one of conventional methods for measuring the body composition, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is widely employed. This method is carried out in the following manner. That is, a weak alternating electric current is passed across the human body to measure the electrical resistance or conductance of the body, as well as measuring the height and weight. Based on these measured values, the amount of the body fluid, the fluid balance inside and outside the cell, and the amount of the body fat are calculated.
FIG. 1 represents a conventional embodiment using the BIA method. According to the conventional BIA method, body composition is analyzed by a series of steps of attaching the electrodes on the hands and feet, inputting sex, age, weight, and height of the measuring person, measuring impedances at the respective body parts, calculating body compositions in a microprocessor, and displaying the resulting data on a display or printing the data out through a printer. Such conventional BIA method has disadvantages that an operator attaches the electrodes on the hands and feet of the measuring person, and that the operator or the measuring person inputs the sex, age, weight, and height of the measuring person through a keyboard.
FIG. 2 represents another embodiment using the BIA method, which is patented as U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,296 to Cha. According to the U.S. patent, the body composition is measured by the steps of contacting a right palm, a right thumb, a left palm, a left thumb, a right front sole, a right rear sole, a left front sole and a left rear sole to eight electrodes, measuring segmental impedances by means of an impedance measuring instrument by selecting an electronic switch which is controlled by a micro-processor, measuring body weight by means of a weight measuring sensor, inputting body height, age and sex through a keyboard, and measuring an amount of body fluid (TBW), an amount of fat free mass (FFM), a percent body fat (%BF) and a distribution of body fluid (ECW/ICW), by means of the micro-processor. Although the U.S. patent has an advantage that the weight is automatically measured by a weight measuring sensor, it has still has a disadvantage that the measuring person inputs height, age, and sex through a keyboard. Such method gives inconvenience to the measuring persons who are not familiar with the operation of the apparatus.
In an attempt to overcome the above described disadvantage, the present inventor has developed a new apparatus for analyzing body composition and a method thereof, which is characterized by standing on the apparatus, gripping the hands bar of the apparatus, and adjusting the hands bar to the height of the measuring person.